CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE: Yi Jianlian is pressured by Elton Brand (left) and Thaddeus Young during the third quarter of the Nets' 83-79 loss to the 76ers last night.Jeff Zelevanksy

Defensively, the Nets were fine — Philadelphia shot .365 and became the third straight Nets opponent held under 90 points.

Offensively, the Nets were the Nets.

Enough said.

“We played good defense but we struggled to score,” said Keyon Dooling. “We’re starting to get better defensively but we’re struggling to score right now, we’re struggling to find points.”

And darn that NBA, they put such an emphasis on that whole scoring thing. Maybe if they’d loosen up, the Nets wouldn’t be a 4-42 train wreck, the situation they found themselves in as another “winnable” game became another loss as the offense disappeared in the second half and the Sixers walked off with an 83-79 victory at the Meadowlands. It was a second straight game the Nets played woulda, coulda, shoulda afterwards.

The Nets led by as many as 10 in the first half, trailed by as many as nine in the fourth quarter. But behind their defense and rebounding — they won the glass for just the third time in 34 games but second time in three — the Nets stayed close, despite a dreadful 31-point, .325 shooting second half. And when Jarvis Hayes hit his fourth 3-pointer, the Nets were within two, 76-74, at 2:44.

After that, the Nets, who went without Devin Harris (wrist) for a fourth straight game, got a stop as Brook Lopez (18 points, nine rebounds, three blocks) rejected Willie Green and then Terrence Williams stole. A stop, but then no shot. The Nets wound up with a 24-second violation as Yi Jianlian (15 points, 12 rebounds) held on too long before passing. Andre Iguodala (14 points) hit from 20 and the Nets followed with two empty possessions.

“They played better down the stretch,” said Hayes, who has season highs of 18 points and eight rebounds. “They made plays and we didn’t. They got it and we didn’t. We lost another close one.”

But at least went down fighting.

Philly went up six on two Allen Iverson free throws at :33.1. Yi made it interesting with the Nets’ seventh 3-pointer, at :23.4, to make it 80-77. It became even more interesting when Brand bricked two free throws at :22.8. The Nets had the ball in a one-possession game. They sought an eighth triple.

“We obviously needed a three, a two wasn’t going to help and they knew that and they were switching everything,” said interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe. “We tried to run something that perhaps was a little tricky.”

Next game: the Statue of Liberty play. This game, the play ended up going to Hayes on the right side and his 3-point magic failed short against a heavy contest from Iguodala.

“We didn’t execute . . . it was just a mess all around,” said Lopez.

“They defended it pretty well. The chances of that shot going in are slim and none anyway, but I had to take it,” said Hayes, who launched at :08.9 in what was the Nets’ last realistic hope.

But actually, the Nets died long before through their offense. They scored 12 points in the third quarter when they shot .300 (6-of-20) then spent most of the fourth wishing they could be that efficient. And in the end, they blew another chance in their quest to avoid that “worst-ever” label, held by the 1972-73 Sixers who were 9-73.

“This was a stretch we looked at as an opportunity to put some wins together and unfortunately, we weren’t able to do it,” said Dooling (13 points, 7 assists). “We started out pretty good against the Clippers, but the last two (Wizards, Sixers) we just haven’t had enough to get over the hump.

“The good old moral victory? That doesn’t really work for us any more.”